Short Sale

Short sale properties represent tremendous opportunity to you as a buyer because they are aggressively priced to sell well below or just at fair market value. Existing homeowners are typically distressed and eager to sell for less than what is owed on their mortgages. They are "underwater" and either can no longer afford their mortgage payments or are simply unwilling to continue to make them for various reasons.

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First Steps to Buying a Short Sale

You've identified an ideal short sale property. Now what? Short sale properties represent tremendous opportunity to you as a buyer because they are aggressively priced to sell well below or just at fair market value.

Indeed, the existing homeowners are typically distressed and eager to sell for less than what is owed on their mortgages. They are "underwater" and either can no longer afford their mortgage payments or are simply unwilling to continue to make them for various reasons.

On the flip side, lenders are often willing to agree to sale prices that are considerably less than what is owed on the current mortgages because the alternative is foreclosure, a costly, complicated and expensive process that will most likely only clog their non-performing asset pipeline further.

Therefore, once you identify a desirable short sale property, it's important to contact a local licensed real estate professional - or the listing agent - who can walk you through the negotiation and purchase process.

You need to act fast!

That's because short sales are time-sensitive. In addition, it's not a "traditional" transaction, meaning that it often takes longer - about four to six months on average - to close a deal.

But, more often that not, it's well worth the wait ... literally and figuratively.